Personal blog of David Harris

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Snowflaking Redux

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Now that my debt is paid off, I still find myself with a steady snowflaking income! I still make bits of money here and there, and have updated my Snowflaking Page to show some of the ways I’m doing it now. But since my revolving debt is gone, I’m now faced with some options

I could stop doing those things. They do take a bit of time, and since I don’t factor the money into my budget, I could easily drop them with no impact.

I could factor it into my budget. Only, it’s not really enough extra money that it makes a big difference, so there would be no point.

Put it toward savings. This is a good idea, but boring. There’s no motivation for me to put in effort to get $5 that I won’t see again for years.

Use it for “fun money” or a trip fund. Collect it for a rainy day.

I think I’m going with #4. My budget is pretty tight now that we’re having a baby, so we don’t have as much entertainment money, or any money to put toward things like a bigger TV or new laptop. So, any snowflaking money will automatically go toward such a fund. I do want a slightly bigger TV eventually, and this will get me there in a year or so.

In the end, personal finance is about being willing to change when your circumstances do. For so long, I’ve had to scrimp in order to pay off this massive debt. But now that it is over with, I’m having to change my views on budgeting. When you have no debt, you are actually free to spend your money how you want! It takes a lot for me to do this, because I feel bad about using money for something frivolous, but this is the reward we get for paying off debt! When you don’t have this massive mountain to cross anymore, the journey is actually pretty easy. Once you’re there, have fun with your money! Be frugal and wise, but also realize you can have fun now, as long as you don’t take on more debt.